A Chapel Hill man has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of three Muslim students onTuesday.

According to police, one victim was a student at North Carolina State University. Another victim was a University of North Carolina student and the third was set to enroll at the UNC dental school. Police report that all three victims died of gunshot wounds to the head and were pronounced dead at the scene shortly after 5 p.m. Tuesday.

Alleged shooter, Craig Stephen Hicks, 46, turned himself in to the Chatham County Sheriff's Office in Pittsboro following the incident, Chatham County Sgt. Kevin Carey told the Washington Post. A motive has not been revealed by police.

Hicks often shared links about atheism on his Facebook page.

"People say nothing can solve the Middle East problem, not mediation, not arms, not financial aid. I say there is something. Atheism," he wote in one post.

The News Observer reports that police believe an earlier parking dispute in the neighborhood between the alleged shooter and victims may have led to the incident.

The three shooting victims, who were Muslim, are identified as husband and wife Deah Barakat, 23, and Yusor Mohammad, 21, and Mohammad's sister Razan Mohammad Abu-Salha, 19. Their religion has caused speculation that the killing may have been a hate-crime, which sparked outrage and a viral Twitter hashtag, #MuslimLivesMatter.

The Council on American Islamic Relations, America's largest Muslim civil liberties and advocacy organization, issued a statement Wednesday morning requesting the Chapel Hill Police Department address the speculation about Hicks' motive.

"Based on the brutal nature of this crime, the past anti-religion statements of the alleged perpetrator, the religious attire of two of the victims, and the rising anti-Muslim rhetoric in American society, we urge state and federal law enforcement authorities to quickly address speculation of a possible bias motive in this case," CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad wrote in a Facebook post.

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